The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Iron Mike offers pair of thrillers in debut
Champion draws with Usmanee while Cueller wins co-feature
VERONA >> In the week leading up to his first event as a boxing promoter, Mike Tyson was the center of attention in Central New York.
Friday night at Turning Stone Resort Casino, the sport returned to center stage as Tyson watched ringside.
The fighters did not disappoint with Jesus Andres Cuellar taking a narrow unanimous decision over Claudio “The Matrix” Marrero in the first televised bout and Argenis “La Tormenta” Mendez keeping his belt after a majority draw with challenger Arash Usmanee in the main event.
“The champion didn’t like the decision and the challenger probably didn’t like the decision, but it’s great for boxing,” said Tyson of the draw. “That’s bigger than us all.”
Tyson continued to play the role of showman at various points throughout the night, greeting people ringside, shaking hands and posing for pictures. Iron Mike also took time to sign for fans in between bouts. He also made a couple appearances in his fighters’ corners but for the most part stayed out of the spotlight, instead letting it shine on the fighters.
The two televised event lived up to Tyson’s billing, with to action so intense it made it easy to forget one of the world’s most famous boxers was in the crowd.
In the main event, Mendez and Usmanee used completely different approaches. Usmanee clearly threw more punches, keeping Mendez on the ropes for much of the fight.
However, the champion made the punches he threw count, connecting several times with his powerful right hook.
Each fighter appeared to have a chance to put his opponent on his back during the bout. In the sixth, Mendez stayed off the ropes and nearly put Usmanee on the mat with a right and a left to his face. Mendez also pummeled Usmanee throughout the 10th until the final 30 seconds, when the challenger unleashed a flurry of his own. He carried that momentum into an actionpacked 11th round, landing a couple blows early. Mendez fought back with a pair of strong shots to Usmanee’s face that brought the crowd to its feet but the challenger fought back late in the round. The fighters left it all on the mat in the 12, trading blows throughout the final three minutes.
Usmanee nearly put Mendez on the mat midway through the round, but the champion quickly caught himself and regained his balance. Usmanee kept attacking but Mendez fended him off for the remainder of the fight to retain his belt via the draw, drawing loud boos from the crowd.
Mendez now stands at 212-1 for his career while Usmanee moves to 20-1-1.
Friday’s first televised bout was another great matchup, this one between two of the top featherweights in the world for the interim WBA Featherweight Championship. WBA No. 2 Marrero squared off with No. 4 Cuellar in a showdown that also went the full 12 rounds.
Both fighters came out swinging and Cuellar dodged a couple quick jabs from Marrero before landing a hard hook with each hand. Cuellar landed a flurry of punches midway through the second before Marrero caught him with a hard right hook near the end of the round.
Cuellar remained in control in the third with a right hook of his own and went to work with the left in the fourth. Cuellar kept Marrero in the corner in the fifth and knocked him down in the sixth, staying on the offensive.
Both fighters went all out in the seventh, each taking their best shots and both remaining on their feet throughout, drawing thunderous applause from the audience.
Marrero was more contained in the eighth while Cuellar continued to swing away and opened a cut near his opponent’s right eye. Cuellar punched through Marrero’s defense in the ninth, causing The Matrix to wobble but he didn’t go down.
Marrero regained his bearings in the 10th, landing a flurry of punches to Cuellar’s body and a hard right to his face. He remained on the offensive through the 11th with both punchers going all out in the 12th.
When the final bell rung, both fighters appeared confident they had won but it was Cuellar coming away with the unanimous decision and the belt.
Dorsett Barnwell, Antoine Douglas and Ed “The Lion” Paredes all won their undercard bouts.